Cierra J Walker, Dilara Batan, Carrie T Bishop, Daniel Ramirez, Brian A Aguado, Megan E Schroeder, Claudia Crocini, Jessica Schwisow, Karen Moulton, Laura Macdougall, Robert M Weiss, Mary A Allen, Robin Dowell, Leslie A Leinwand, Kristi S Anseth
Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) is a progressive fibrotic disease that is caused by thickening and stiffening of valve leaflets. At the cellular level, quiescent valve interstitial cells (qVICs) activate to myofibroblasts (aVICs) that persist within the valve tissue. Given the persistence of myofibroblasts in AVS, epigenetic mechanisms have been implicated. Here, we studied changes that occur in VICs during myofibroblast activation by using a hydrogel matrix to recapitulate different stiffnesses in the valve leaflet during fibrosis...
September 2022: Bioengineering & Translational Medicine